The incorporation of nanomaterials into polymer matrices has resulted in compositions that exhibit increased thermal stability, modulus, strength, and enhanced electrical and optical properties. Nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes, are of great interest to researchers in various fields, including chemistry, physics, materials science, and electrical engineering, due to their unique structures and unique electrical, mechanical, electro-optical and electromechanical properties. As such, nanomaterials show promise as components for electronic, optical and sensor devices.
Since the discovery of carbon nanotubes in 1991, the unique properties of these nanomaterials have inspired interest in using carbon nanotubes as a filler in polymer composition systems to obtain ultra-light structural materials with enhanced electrical, thermal and optical characteristics. The prospect of obtaining advanced nanocompositions with multifunctional features, e.g., materials used for structures, and electrical conductors, has attracted the efforts of researchers in both academia and industry.
Organic and inorganic nanomaterials, such as single or multi-walled nanotubes, nanowires, nanodots, quantum dots, nanorods, nanocrystals, nanotetrapods, nanotripods, nanobipods, nanoparticles, nanosaws, nanosprings, nanoribbons, or branched nanomaterials, are of great interest to researchers in various fields such as chemistry, physics, materials science, and electrical engineering, due to their unique structures and unique electrical, mechanical, electro-optical and electromechanical properties. Accordingly, these nanomaterials show promise as components for electronic, optical and sensor devices.
Recently, the nonlinear optical properties of materials such as carbon nanotubes and PbSe and PbS quantum dots have attracted a great deal of interest. By “nonlinear optical properties” we refer to the nonlinear variations of the optical characteristics of a given material with changes in the intensity and power of incident and/or transmitted light. A typical example of nonlinear optical property is the saturable absorption of a material. In this case the material's optical absorption decreases nonlinearly with increased intensity and/or power of the incident light, up to a point where the material gets “bleached”, i.e. it becomes transparent to the incident light and allows almost unperturbed light transmission.
Some experimental studies have concentrated on the saturable absorption properties of carbon nanotube suspensions, nanotube-polymer compositions and PbSe nanoparticle solutions. These studies demonstrate that nanotubes, and nanomaterials in general, can exhibit very strong third-order optical nonlinearity. In addition, nanotubes and nanomaterials show ultrafast dynamics. These properties make nanotubes and nanomaterials attractive materials for use in numerous applications in the fields of optics, electronics and photonics.
Despite the great strides made in this area of nanotechnology, there exists a need in the art for nanomaterial polymer compositions having improved physical, mechanical and optical properties. This invention addresses that need.